by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Facing double-digit occupancy drops, local hotel and motel general managers have asked the Duval County Tourist Development Council to dip into its contingency fund and spend money marketing Jacksonville.
“Business has fallen off so sharply, we are asking the TDC for funding to help with bed tax dollars we are losing,” said Hyatt General Manager Dan King.
There is currently about $3 million in the TDC’s contingency fund. King, who is president of the North Florida Hotel Lodging Association, went before the TDC Thursday seeking $1.45 million over the course of two phases. The TDC approved Phase I, which will allow Visit Jacksonville to spend $875,000 promoting and marketing Jacksonville throughout the country as a top summer and fall destination. Once those dollars are spent and the results are analyzed, members of the TDC said they will consider the rest of the grant request, which is another $600,000 to advertise sports and entertainment events through August of next year.
And, right now, the hotels need all of the marketing they can get. King asked several area hotel managers to address the TDC on the current state of the hotel industry in town. With the exception of hotels and motels near the airport, the numbers are down significantly.
“The hard facts are that the unfortunate economic conditions have affected Duval County hotels,” said King, who explained that in the first quarter of 2007 the occupancy of the Hyatt was 70.6 percent. That number fell last year to 66.1 and the first quarter of this year saw an occupancy rate of 56.5 percent. “If the contingency fund is truly for emergencies, we feel we are in an emergency.”
Janice Daly, director of sales and marketing at the Crowne Plaza, said her Southbank hotel’s occupancy numbers are similar to King’s. Daly said her hotel’s biggest competition used to be hotels in Orlando, Tampa, Atlanta and other Southeast destinations. That isn’t the case anymore.
“We are competing against each other instead of competing against other cities,” said Daly. “Employees ask me if things are getting better. Benefits are being cut because we can’t pay people to work 40 hours a week.”
Daly cited other cities that market entire packages that include airfare and lodging as one reason Jacksonville is losing tourism business.
“In the past we competed on a regional level,” she said. “Now, we are competing nationally. We need to to have our message out there. We need to let people know what we have to offer.”
Mike Ryan oversees three area hotels. He said his occupancy rate is down 15 percent and he’s having to let people go.
“When sales are down, you invest more in marketing,” said Ryan. “If this is not an emergency, I don’t know what is.”
The Dalton Agency and Visit Jacksonville will partner to create a marketing plan that can be quickly implemented in an effort to lure business to Jacksonville over the summer and fall, traditionally the area’s slowest times of the year with the exception of a few busy weekends.
“Media are offering discounts right now, so we can get more for our money to drive visitors here,” said Jim Dalton, president of The Dalton Agency.
The TDC also approved several other grants including:
• The Gator Bowl Association got $350,000 for the 2010 Gator Bowl game while the TDC tentatively approved another $500,000 for the next four games pending funding availability.
“We have an agreement with the TDC to fund this year’s game,” said GBA President Rick Catlett. “We will work with Visit Jacksonville to bring as many people as possible.”
Catlett said he and his selection committee will work to make sure the game is attractive as possible to the teams’ fans, area football fans and CBS, which airs the game. He also said New Year’s Day falls on a Friday and Saturday the next two years which means fans coming for the game may be more likely to stay for an entire weekend or longer.
• Visit Jacksonville was approved for a $60,000 grant for this year to create an event portal. The Web site would be all-encompassing for Jacksonville and Jacksonville-area events. Currently, there are several Web sites that list events and often they don’t agree. Lyndsay Rossman, director of corporate communications for Visit Jacksonville, said the TDC deferred another $40,000 for the site for the next two years.
• A grant request for $122,588 made by David Reese, president of Florida’s First Coast of Golf, was deferred until the August TDC meeting. Reese would like to use the grant for the regional marketing cooperative that helps promote the First Coast as a golf destination.
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